I am an ecologist interested in bottom-up controls of energy and nutrient availability in aquatic ecosystems. My work seeks to combine experimental, field, and data synthesis methods to link organismal and ecosystem levels of organization, often employing the framework of ecological stoichiometry theory.

My research program explores and integrates 3 themes: (1) environmental controls on microbial colonization and decomposition of detritus; (2) nutrition and ecological stoichiometry of aquatic invertebrates (primarily detritivores); and (3) the significance of animal wastes in ecosystem carbon and nutrient cycles. Please learn more about my research on this website and contact me with interests or questions!

Since August 2016, I have been a postdoctoral researcher in the laboratory of Dr. Kevin Kuehn at the University of Southern Mississippi, where I study microbial interactions on decomposing plant litter, focusing on effects of periphytic algae on heterotrophic decomposer biomass and activity, decomposition of leaf litter, and energy and nutrient flow in detrital-based food webs.